In the rapidly changing world of telecommunications and electronics in general, the concepts of radio that exist today are not much different from those in existence in the early part of the twentieth century. Despite the advent of physical media which enable a user to carry the music to which the user wishes to listen, the concept of radio still exists in a format offering users very few user options. Although a user may choose a station or several stations which may be preferred by the user, there are no current options which enable users to listen to preferred music selections, for example, at the user's convenience rather than on the timetables provided by the local broadcasters.
Moreover, it is oftentimes frustrating for a user to switch among radio stations in an effort to find a music selection preferred by the user. Many times, when a user finally does find a music selection or song that the user prefers, the song may be ending and the user may have to initiate the station scanning process all over again. This is not only frustrating to the user but also distracting and even dangerous when the user is operating a motor vehicle at the same time.
Further, much of the music and other transmitted radio content is protected by Copyright laws and require the payment of fees to the Copyright owner for certain rights related to the use of the Copyrighted material. Heretofore there has been no widespread method for making such payments on an individualized basis for the personal use of Copyrighted radio and/or video content.
Thus, there is a need for an improved digital processing system which provides a greater degree of control by users of radio and other broadcast signal content which includes means for processing payments for the use of such signal content.